Huron-Perth Boomers Winter 2023-24

LOCAL SPOTLIGHT
by Elizabeth Bundy-Cooper
A Bombardier CL415 waterbomber on the left,
dwarfs an Air Commander Turbo 690.
controllers when other planes are arriving
to the scene. There are many planes circling
around at the same time, but we rely on our
communication skills to get the job done.
Another thing that is very dangerous is
a drone. So many people have them now
and they like to film the waterbombers
coming in over a fire. If I see a drone, I get
out immediately. If we hit one, it could be
catastrophic. It’s a big safety concern.
EBC: That said, what brings you joy in
this job?
DK: I love flying, and I love teaching
others. I train 15 to 20 new recruits a year
for firefighting pilots. It is intense, exciting,
and challenging. It is also very exciting
when our team successfully puts out a fire.
That’s our job of course, but some fires
you just can’t put out. Either they are out
of control, or of no risk to people, or there
is no water nearby for the waterbombers to
collect to safely attempt to put the fire out.
Some fires won’t extinguish themselves
until the snow comes.
EBC: Is it a lonely job?
DK: It’s hard to be away from home and
family, yes. We work 23 days on and then
get seven days off. I was never lonely as an
actor working out of town because you are
around people all the time. You have long
days as a firefighting pilot – we work from
noon to 7 p.m. or sunset looking for smoke.
When it’s busy, it’s better. When I drive
back to Sudbury from Stratford to work,
I want to go, but I wish the job was here.
EBC: Has your job been busier as we
experience climate change?
DK: There are definitely more fires. The
fire season is cyclical, where you will have
seasons that are long and some seasons
there is nothing. For instance, 2021 was
incredibly busy, yet in 2022 I only did one
fire. This year was very busy in May and
June and then it fell right off. In western
Ontario it was busy right through the entire
season. We can’t predict them, but after
this summer across Canada, it was obvious
that the forest fire season is getting longer
and more intense, and fires are hotter. I
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